The present invention relates to syringes for providing medicine injections to animals.
Recent outbreaks of animal diseases such as xe2x80x9cFoot and Mouthxe2x80x9d and BSE (also known as xe2x80x9cMad Cowxe2x80x9d disease) are threatening both the livelihoods of food animal producers and the safety of one of the critical staples of world food supply. Nowxe2x80x94more than everxe2x80x94reliable and efficient mechanisms for administering vaccines and other medicines to food animals are necessary.
In recent years, numerous mechanisms have been developed that improve the way medicines are delivered to food animals. For instance, the commercially available VAC-MARC syringexe2x80x94elements of which are taught in issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,961,494 and 6,264,637 (both to the inventor herein and both specifically incorporated herein by reference), available through VAC-PAC Corporation of Kenansville, N.C. (1-800-4VACPAC). This family of syringes allows the simultaneous marking of a food animal at the same time an injection is applied to the animal. As described in these referenced patents, this technique allows verification that an animal has received an injection, as well as indicating where on the animal the injection was applied, an important fact in effectively delivering medicines to animals.
Another important development in animal medicine delivery is disclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/477,262, also to Hogan. This system, available commercially as the VAC-TRAC Verification System (xe2x80x9cVTVSxe2x80x9d) providesxe2x80x94among other thingsxe2x80x94a mechanism to automatically and electronically record the unique identity of an animal that has received an injection. As disclosed in that pending application, each food animal is given an electronic identification device (xe2x80x9cEIDxe2x80x9d) that emits a unique identification signal. When the VAC-TRAC syringe is actuated and delivers the injection to the animal, a reader on the syringe reads the unique identification signal relating to the animal and transmits to a computer database the identification of the animal and the medicine applied to the animal, thus creating a verifiable database of medical administrations to food animals.
Notwithstanding these important developments, most animal injectionsxe2x80x94including injections from each of these previously discussed systemsxe2x80x94are delivered by a hand-actuated syringe. That is, the syringe is held in one hand and actuated when opposing syringe handles are squeezed together. In each of the above-described devices, the mark is placed on the animal in a position dictated by the orientation of the syringe.
In many situations, the position of the animal receiving the injection and the position of the individual administering the injection leads to an undesirable orientation of the portion of the marking syringe that delivers the mark. Depending on the particular medication in question and the preferred location of the injection, a mark placed in a less than optimal position may be difficult to see or even harmful to the animal. One possible cause of this difficulty could be the medicine administratorxe2x80x94right handers, for instance, will typically hold the syringe in an orientation different from their left-handed counterparts.
Accordingly, a need exists for a marking syringe with an orientationally adjustable marking apparatus.
A further need exists for a marking syringe with an orientationally adjustable marking apparatus that can be easily moved and locked from one position to another, while still allowing the action of actuating the integral medicine syringe to actuate the marking apparatus.
These and other shortcomings in currently available marking syringes are solved by the orientationally adjustable marking syringe of the present invention.
The marking syringe comprises a vaccine syringe including a needle for insertion and delivery of medicine into an animal. Integral to the vaccine syringe is a pivoting ink dispenser having a discharge orifice for discharging ink or another marking substance onto the animal. A syringe handle captures both the vaccine syringe and the pivoting ink dispenser and allowing substantially simultaneous actuation of both the vaccine syringe and the pivoting ink dispenser.